£200m to bust drugs culture

A £200m fund to wage war on drugs, backed by a celebrity anti-drugs campaign with prominent business and sports personalities, was announced yesterday.

The cash, to be made available over the next three years, will go to police commanders and local authority anti-drugs coordinators to fight drug-related crime and break up networks of local dealers.

The money is to be channelled through the 350 partnerships against crime and disorder across England, bringing together police, local authority, drug action teams and voluntary organisations to devise local anti-crime strategies.

A Home Office spokeswoman said payments to the neighbourhood partnerships would average between £500,000 and £1m, with similar funds available in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

A further £15m is be made available to finance an advertising campaign which will feature anti-drugs messages from sports and business personalities to help reduce the demand for illegal drugs. "The war against drugs will never be won by government alone but neighbourhood by neighbour hood across the country, so further resources will be announced to support a new campaign, involving prominent figures from the world of business and sports to mobilise communities against drugs," said the chancellor.

The extra money was welcomed by DrugScope, the charity which represents those who work with drug abusers. "There is evidence that disrupting local drug markets can prove effective and any support for local communities is welcome," said director Roger Howard. "We are disappointed that more resources are not being channelled into helping drug users reintegrate into society when they come out of prison following treatment."

The funds compare with £3bn a year spent on the fight against drug abuse, more than two thirds spent on law enforcement.

Last week, Tony Blair announced extra initiatives as part of the government's 10-year anti-crime plan, in which he floated ideas such as a national register of drug dealers and specialist drug courts.The government believes that the campaign against drug abuse is central to its anti-crime plan. Almost two thirds of the 100,000 most persistent offenders misuse hard drugs, including heroin and cocaine.